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Education-technology executive Jon Bower questions in this opinion article why a steady push to use more technology in the classroom has not produced the desired improvements in student test scores since it began in the mid-1980s. Bower suggests that too much emphasis is being placed on purchasing hardware at the expense of software and training, and he encourages teachers and administrators to learn more about the technological tools that can help improve instruction and student performance.

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A school district in Pennsylvania is using a "Technology Academy" model to train teachers in technology without additional funds. Under the model, the district establishes one week during the summer in which teachers are trained in technology by other teachers who receive technology for their classrooms in exchange for serving as teacher coaches. The district has several partners to assist with the training, including SMART, Dell and Apple.

Parents in Los Angeles are concerned over a plan by schools chief Ramon C. Cortines to significantly restrict a policy that provides permits for more than 12,000 L.A. students to attend out-of-district schools. Ending the policy would mean the students would be asked to return to district schools, which would receive $51 million in state funding to educate them at a time when the district is facing a $640 million budget deficit.

A proposal that promotes performance-pay systems for Nebraska's teachers won first-round approval in the state legislature Monday. The bill would require at least 75% of districts to adopt performance-based pay plans for teachers by 2015 to trigger the distribution of an estimated $10 million. The money would come from revenue the state earns from leases for solar and wind energy.

Educators and mathematicians in California are split over whether the state should adopt national standards for teaching mathematics, with some comparing the debate to the "math wars" of the 1990s. The proposed common standards have students spending more time on in-depth study before moving to new concepts, but critics say the curriculum would be a step back for California's students.

About 17,500 Arizona teachers have participated in training from Intel during the past decade to improve their technology skills -- which sometimes lag behind their students -- and use their knowledge in the classroom. Under the Intel Teach program, the computer chip maker provides the training, curriculum and funding for teachers statewide to boost technology use.